


A New Sensation

by jordahparrish



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Performing Arts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2017-02-07
Packaged: 2018-08-11 01:23:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7870060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jordahparrish/pseuds/jordahparrish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clary Fray ends up joining Brooklyn Arts, a performing arts school ran by her mother's almost-boyfriend Luke Garroway, after Luke watched her perform at his sister's wedding. With very little theatre knowledge and barely any experience, she's thrown into the world of performing arts. It's her chance to live the life of a performing arts student and find out if the movies were right, and if she'd find love, friends and even enemies along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Start of Something Good

Clary was a late admission to Luke Garroway's performing arts school, Brooklyn Arts. He had practically begged her to join the school when she performed at his sister's wedding, Amatis had asked her to perform as a favour and Clary accepted the offer. Luke and Clary already knew each other through Clary's mother, since Luke and Jocelyn were basically dating, but that wasn't why Luke wanted Clary to join the school. Luke wanted Clary there because she was talented.  
Being a late admission, she was also late to accommodation for the school, luckily there was one room left at a house that wasn't too far from the school. She could have stayed with her mother but because of the distance, they decided the accommodation would be easier. Clary walked up to the house, she had followed directions that were sent to her over e-mail, she dragged her blue suitcase behind her as she walked up to the door. She knocked on the door and waited for an answer. After a moment, the door opened, showing a blond boy. The first thing Clary thought was that his shirt looked too tight on him, she then looked up into his eyes and wondered if he noticed her looking at his chest. He had a smile on his face, then Clary noticed his eyes, a small part of one of his eyes was a different colour to the rest and it just seemed to make him more beautiful.  
"Uh," Clary fumbled to find words, eventually, she managed to speak, "is this uh... acco- accommodation for-"  
"Brooklyn Arts?" He finished the sentence and Clary let out a relieved nod,she was pretty sure she couldn't speak at all now, "yeah it is, you must be the final competitor," the boy spoke in a joking tone, he let out a laugh and waved her in. He led her into the kitchen area where an older man was preparing food, "Alaric, our final puzzle piece is here."  
The man looked up from the counter and let out a gasp when he saw the redhead, “Clary!”  
"Alaric!" Clary dropped her suitcase and ran over to the man. the blond boy raised an eyebrow as he watched the pair hug.  
"Uh, you know each other?"  
"I know her mother," Alaric commented, "I didn't know she was staying with us."  
The blond nodded and smiled to the girl, "I'm Jace, by the way."  
Clary turned back around to the boy and gave him a smile, "Clary."  
"What's going on down here then?" A taller boy wandered over from the stairs, he looked at Clary with narrowed eyes, "who are you?"  
"I'm Clary Fray," Clary held out her hand to the boy, "latecomer to Brooklyn Arts."  
"Great," the boy walked straight past Clary, leaving her to slowly drop her hand. Clary turned and watched the boy, she heard Jace quietly chuckle to himself.  
"That's Alec, excuse his mood, he's not good with change," Jace pulled a face and it sounded to Clary as though he was joking but that may have just been the tone that the blond had. Clary saw the taller boy sit down, obviously not wanting to take any more notice of Clary, Jace leaned towards her, "he's a nice person, I promise."  
"Seems it," Clary turned away from Alec and examined the room, "so... Where's my room?"  
"The cupboard under the stairs," Alec replied in a monotone voice from where he was sat.  
"She's not Harry Potter," Alaric pointed at Alec as he spoke with a tone of warning, "Jace, take Clary upstairs, whichever room is free is hers."  
"Yes sir," Jace playfully saluted Alaric and then waved for Clary to follow him, he ran up the stairs and walked past several doors before opening one to a room that he thought was free. He and Clary paused when they saw a dark girl sat on the bed.  
"Izzy, I thought you were staying in the room next to Alec's?"  
"No way," Izzy scoffed as she jumped up from the bed, "that room gave me some bad vibes, I'm pretty sure it's haunted," she glanced to Clary, "no joke, I saw one of the pillows on the bed move without being touched. I'm Izzy, by the way."  
"I gathered," Clary smiled and held out her hand again, it didn't seem like she'd be rejected again, "I'm Clary Fray."  
"Clary Fray," Izzy smiled and shook the girl's hand, "so you're our final friend, I've been hoping for another girl! Alec and Jace are probably the worst housemates."  
"We're her brothers, by the way," Jace quickly informed Clary, "well Alec and Izzy are brother and sister, their parents adopted me when I was younger, so I'm... Also their brother."  
"Oh, so I'm basically living with a family," Clary let out a laugh, "well, promise not to leave me out of anything?"  
"Never," Izzy was still smiling, "I'm sorry you have to be in the haunted room."  
"Don't worry about it," Clary shrugged, "I'll be okay with that."  
"I'm glad someone can handle spooks," Jace patted Clary on the back, "well, let's go to your room then," he turned back and led Clary across the hall to another door. He threw the door open and welcomed Clary into the room, Clary gave him a quick smile as she pulled her suitcase into the room. The room wasn't as small as she thought it would have been, in fact, it was around the same size as her bedroom at home. It didn't look like it would have been haunted either, so perhaps Izzy was freaking out over nothing. Clary sat down on the bed and smiled at Jace who was leaning on the door frame.  
"You can come in, you know."  
"I didn't know whether you wanted to stay in here or head back downstairs, Alaric's cooking dinner so that will be ready soon."  
"What is Alaric? Like... He lives here with us?"  
"Basically like a chaperone to the house, our landlord, I don't know how to explain it. Like a housekeeper? We just kind of go with the flow at Brooklyn Arts."  
"Okay," Clary slowly nodded, "then I shall just... Go with the flow."  
"That's the spirit, now come downstairs."  
"And have a nice chat with Alec about bunny rabbits and flowers?" Clary sarcastically suggested as she stood up.  
"Well, I don't know about that," Jace pulled a face, the pair stared at each other for a second before they started laughing. Clary skipped over to Jace and followed him back down the stairs.  
Clary could see that Alec was still sat on one of the sofas by himself, he glanced over to the pair and then rolled his eyes. Clary was already fed up of that attitude, Jace walked into the living room and Clary followed - it wasn't really a room, more of an area between the kitchen and the stairs where the sofas and TV were placed. There was a piano pushed up against the wall, behind the sofas, it wasn't blocked off but it looked unused.  
"Wow," Clary moved over to the piano, she ran her fingers along it as she examined it.  
"That's for emergency rehearsals," Alec spoke up from his seat, "we don't plan to use it too much."  
“But a piano that isn't used to make music is such a sad sight,” Clary lifted her hand from the piano, “a musical instrument that doesn't make a so-”  
"Oh God, she's the poetic type of person. I'm definitely not looking forward to this.”  
"What do you have against me?" Clary crossed her arms, she would have stared down at him but he stood up, so she ended up looking up at him.  
"I don't have anything against you, yet," Alec then looked to Jace again and walked past the pair. Jace let out a quiet laugh.  
"He'll act nicer when we're at school, I swear."


	2. Watch This Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clary is more than excited for her first day, but Izzy and Alec inform her that it's not going to be as easy as she hopes.

It was the next day and time to see if what Jace had said would be true. The other students had already been at the school the previous week so Clary wasn't that much of a latecomer, which made her feel far more confident about fitting in. She had made her way to the school with Izzy, Alec and Jace. As they walked Izzy seemed to be practising a routine that she had been learning, she spun to Jace and Alec and glared at them.  
"Come on, you two know this and we have to have it clean by today otherwise Meliorn will give us a late detention, I heard that in the detention he makes you do the plank for like... Fifteen minutes."  
"That sounds like hell," Alec mumbled carelessly, he stared down at the back of his hand as though there were something interesting that caught his eye.  
"The plank?" Clary cocked her head, "what is he? A pirate?"  
“God, she's poetic and stupid.”  
Jace gently pushed Alec, obviously trying to punish him for making the comment. He then quickly turned to Clary to explain the phrase to her, "how new are you to performing? A plank is when you hold yourself up on your elbows and your toes, poor Simon Lewis can't do it for thirty seconds yet," Jace joked with Alec.  
"Simon Lewis?" Clary wondered why that name sounded familiar, but she couldn't pinpoint the reason.  
"I'll be fair to him," Izzy held out her hand as she spoke, "he's new to dancing, he actually auditioned as an actor-musician, I heard his audition and it was great."  
"So, everyone does everything?"  
"Oh yeah," Alec responded, "even if they struggle with it," he looked down at Clary and gave her a smirk, "so yes, you'll still be doing everything no matter how hard you find it all."  
"It'll be a breeze," Clary challenged Alec with a quick glance.  
"You'll regret saying that," Izzy tutted as she continued to go through the routine, "Meliorn will work you like a bitch. You are less than prepared for his warm up. You have a bottle of water ready, right?" Izzy quickly asked Clary.Clary had not. She hadn't packed one of the most important things she was supposed to remember. She turned back as though she was going to head back to the house but Jace stopped her and held out a bottle of water.  
"I thought you'd forget," he gave her a teasing smile and waved the bottle over her head, "you'll need it."  
"Thank you," Clary stretched up to snatch the bottle from Jace, the further she reached the higher he held it which only led Clary to laugh. After she finally managed to grab the bottle, she slipped it into her bag. She looked back up, seeing the school in front of them. There was a sign up a set of steps that read 'BROOKLYN ARTS', a wave of excitement washed over Clary as she got closer to the sign, "woah, I'd seen pictures of this place but... woah."  
"What? Surely you auditioned here," Alec squinted at Clary, “you auditioned, right?"  
"Not exactly."  
"Wow, and to think we all worked extremely hard for our place here," a glare was thrown to Clary, and she knew that Alec was being totally unreasonable with his attitude towards her. After a moment of staring at her, Alec rushed away from the group and made his way into the building.  
"You didn't audition?" Izzy cocked her head to Clary, "then... How did you get in?"  
"Luke asked me to join after I performed at his sister's wedding."  
"That's awesome," Izzy was grinning, "Alec's a little tense, he almost didn't get into the school. He fell over during his dance audition."  
"It was thanks to Magnus that he got a second chance," Jace explained to Clary.  
"Magnus?"  
"He's an older student that Luke asked to sit in on the auditions," Izzy spoke about Magnus as though she knew all about him, "I think they wanted opinions from students who had already been through the first year."  
"Makes sense," Clary nodded, "to see if they thought the people could take it."  
"Right," Jace was still smiling at Clary. As they walked through the doors Clary looked around, the building was pretty amazing inside as well as outside. She noticed that a lot of students were wearing leotards, they were all in dance appropriate attire. It was thanks to Izzy that Clary was wearing appropriate clothes, she was going to wear a pair of jeans and a button up blouse but Izzy warned her that she would be slaughtered for even thinking of wearing jeans.Instead of her original outfit plan, she was wearing a pair of leggings and a loose tank top – simple and practical.  
"Clary Fray," she jumped when she heard her own name, she looked around to see a boy approaching her, she didn't recognise him.  
"That's Magnus," Izzy whispered to Clary, noticing that she was clueless.  
"Right."  
"Sorry, I just had to say hi, I recognised you. Luke showed me a video of you to ask for a second opinion."  
"He did?" Clary stared at the boy, she quickly examined him. He had strands of blue hair hidden amongst his black hair, his eye shadow complimented the strands of blue. Clary suddenly found herself jealous of his make-up abilities. Magnus was still smiling at Clary, he seemed to expect her to say more but after a moment he spoke again.  
"He's very proud of you, you're a lucky one so... Don't let your chance go to waste, Biscuit," he winked to Clary, then turned to Izzy as if he had just noticed her, "ah, Izzy, where's your brother?"  
"Oh, Alec is uh... I don't know, he kind of stormed off. He's here somewhere though."  
"I'll find him," Magnus threw up a hand dramatically and pulled a face, “can't be that hard.”  
"Did you need him for something?" Jace asked, obviously curious.  
"Nothing too important, I just wanted to say hi."  
Magnus left the group and glanced around as he walked away, he was still searching for Alec. Clary wanted to know what Magnus could see in Alec, she didn't understand how Alec could be more than an acquaintance to anybody. He seemed like he hated anybody who wasn't Jace or Izzy.  
Clary followed Izzy and Jace to Luke's office, he had told her to collect her lesson schedule on her first morning. She was already pretty sure that she'd have the same schedule as Jace and Izzy - but she could still say hi to Luke.  
She knocked on his office door, Izzy and Jace had stepped to the side, offering to wait for her outside of the office. Clary waited until she heard Luke's voice.  
"Come in."  
Clary opened the door slowly and smiled as she saw Luke sat at the desk, "hi."  
"Clary," Luke stood up from his desk and quickly made his way over to the girl, he wrapped his arms around her and let out a laugh, "I was scared you wouldn't show up."  
"I keep to my word," Clary shrugged, "can I get my schedule? I have some friends waiting for me."  
"Friends already, I knew this would be good for you."  
"Did you know I was living with Alaric?"  
"I may have made some arrangements, so you had a familiar face."  
"He didn't know I was going to him."  
"I didn't tell him, but I knew you'd be going to him."  
"Thank you Luke," Clary was grinning as she looked around Luke's office. Luke handed her a piece of paper with her class schedule on. Clary took the piece of paper and nodded, "this is the same as Izzy Lightwood and Jace Wayland, right?"  
"People are housed with other students with their schedule, it helps with out of school rehearsals, so yes."  
"Oh thank God!" Clary squealed and ran towards the door, "thank you, Luke."  
Clary rushed out of the office, Izzy and Jace were still stood to the side, however, there was someone else with them this time. Clary curiously approached the group and smiled as Izzy turned to her.  
"Oh Clary, this is Simon, remember we were talking about him earlier," Izzy introduced the new member of the group. When Simon turned to Clary, the pair stared at each other in realisation.  
"Simon! I knew that I had heard that name before!" Clary squealed and leapt to hug Simon.  
"Okay," Jace looked between Simon and Clary, "so..."  
"We were best friends when we were younger," Clary explained with a sympathetic smile, "until Simon had to move away."  
"I'm so sorry Clary," Simon mumbled as he continued to hug Clary, "I missed you so much."  
"I missed you too," Clary let out a laugh, "fate brought us back together, huh?"  
"Indeed, it did. I never thought I'd be seeing you in the halls of Brooklyn Arts.”  
“Well, Luke thought I was good at Amatis's wedding so he begged me to join, I'm a week late but... I'm here.”  
“You look absolutely amazing,” Simon was grinning as he looked at the girl, “like last time I saw you, you had your hair in little pigtails and a blue dress on, and now you look...”  
“Hot, she looks hot,” Izzy laughed, “say it Simon, we all know what you're thinking.”  
“You do,” there were two voices that responded, both Jace and Simon. Simon then let out an awkward laugh and rubbed the back of his neck.  
“I'm glad to see you again, but I actually have to go and find Raphael, we were knighted with the glorious job of being the school's radio station host,” Simon gave Clary a quick wink, he then ran down the corridor – almost hurtling himself into a blonde girl as he ran.  
“Nerdy and feisty,” Jace commented with a quick furrow of his eyebrows, “I wonder how Raphael doesn't end up killing him, to be honest. Now come on, we could be late to Meliorn's warm up, and who wants to face the dreaded plank?”  
Izzy ran ahead of Jace and Clary, her hair flew over her shoulder as she spun back to the pair, “come on! The earlier we are, the earlier we get let out!”  
Clary glanced to Jace before letting out a high pitched laugh and chasing after Izzy, Jace quickly followed both of them. Izzy rushed into the dance studio and let the door swing shut on Jace and Clary. Jace laughed, he held the door open and let Clary through. Clary walked into the studio and it looked just like the dance studios she’d see on television. Alec was the only other student in the room at the time, he was going through the same routine Izzy had been rehearsing on the way to school. He stopped when the trio entered.  
“I can’t do it Iz,” he blatantly ignored Clary’s presence and only looked at his sister, “I keep messing up, no matter what I do.”  
”You’ll be great Alec,” Izzy patted the boy’s back, “don’t worry too much.”  
”Don’t worry too much? Iz, if I fail this class, I’ll...” he glanced over Izzy’s head to Clary and then shook his head, “it doesn’t matter.”  
”You’ll do well!” Izzy excitedly spun around to look at the door as a man with long hair entered, “Meliorn, can you tell Alec to stop panicking so much?”  
Meliorn glanced over to the taller boy, “Alec, you’ll be fine, okay?”  
”Fine?” Alec glared at his reflection, “that’s not good enough.”  
“Don’t push yourself too hard before warm up,” Meliorn held out his hands and then let a smile show up on his face, “so, you four seem eager,” he paused as his eyes met Clary’s, “you must be Clarissa.”  
”Yes, you must be Meliorn.”  
”Well, I’m glad I get to see what you’re made of, Luke was very proud of you so-”  
”So I better not let him down,” Clary gave a quick nod, “and I won’t.”


	3. A Lifeline For Hopes That Are Drowning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clary discovers why Alec was so annoyed at the fact that she hadn't auditioned for her place in Brooklyn Arts.

They were definitely right about Meliorn working the class hard, he had decided to start the choreography for a group dance. The dance involved partner work and a small part of Clary had hoped that she’d be placed with Jace, but instead Meliorn had placed her and Alec together. Who knew how it would work out with the height difference. Jace and Izzy were paired up as Meliorn had already seen those two as his strongest dancers. They were running through the choreography non-stop, Meliorn had to enlist the help of a student in the second year, the blonde girl that Clary had seen Simon run into earlier in the day, to show them some of the choreography - including a lift. It looked easy, but Meliorn had said that it was difficult. Clary could see the doubt on Alec’s face as she tried to run into the lift with him, as soon as she was in his arms, they were both on the floor. Clary had to stop herself from fighting Alec as he mumbled something under his breath - something that was probably aimed at her. After a few more attempts at the lifts and a few more painful falls, Meliorn had decided to break all of the students for a slightly earlier lunch. 

Clary had initially taken a seat at a table with Alec, but he was more than reluctant about being joined by her. Izzy and Jace sat down at the table not too long after Clary, they quickly begun a conversation about how well Alec and Clary were doing in the rehearsal but Clary knew that it was a lie. She and Alec had messed up most of the choreography. It didn’t take too long for Alec to quickly leave the table of his own will.  
“So about Alec’s audition,” Clary turned to Izzy and Jace once Alec had disappeared from the room, “what exactly happened?”  
”Oh backstory time with Jace and Iz,” Jace drummed his hands on the table, “get comfy Clary,” he leaned on the table and turned to Izzy who was prepared to start the story.  
“Okay so, the auditions were held in the main studio, we were all sat outside waiting for our names to be called,” Izzy calmly began to explain the auditions to Clary, “Jace had already finished his audition and he was so proud of himself. So Jace sat with me and Alec until our auditions, Alec went in just before me and - since we had moved closer to the studio - we could hear him from where we were sat. It was amazing.”  
”Best I’ve ever heard him sing,” Jace interrupted the story, he was grinning at the thought of Alec’s audition.  
“So we knew his singing went well,” Izzy continued (after clicking her fingers at Jace to scold him for interrupting), “and I heard the music for his dancing, I just pictured him doing it perfectly,” she paused and looked down at her hands, “a few minutes later he came out of the room. He looked so pissed off. I wanted to ask him what was wrong but I was called in for my audition.”  
“I went over to him instead,” Jace took over the story, “he almost refused to talk to me but since I wouldn’t lay off he just turned to me and yelled-”  
”I fucking fell over!” Jace and Izzy called at the same time.  
“I heard him from inside the studio,” Izzy pulled a face.  
“So, how do you know that Magnus was the one to get him in?” Clary didn’t know whether they were told or not, or even if Alec knew it was down to Magnus.  
“Isn’t it obvious?” Izzy’s eyes lit up with excitement, “he totally has a crush on Alec.”  
”Oh?”  
“On our first day here, Magnus introduced himself to Alec. He said that he was impressed by his audition, all that flattering stuff, he didn’t even bring up the fall.”  
”Perhaps he didn’t notice the fall, it’s possible they all thought it was part of the choreography,” Clary could imagine them all making that mistake, sometimes people believed that falls were part of it.  
“Oh he noticed, he spoke to me about it on our third day.”  
”So that’s how you know that he got Alec in, he told you.”  
”Not exactly!” Izzy gasped at the accusation, “he’s a cryptic man.”  
”Then tell me what cryptic thing he said.”  
”He said; ‘I noticed him in the auditions, he stood out to me. Perhaps he didn’t stand out to Luke but I saw something special.’ I mean come on, obviously Magnus saw something he liked and he wanted to keep it.”  
”Sounds creepy...” Clary almost shivered when she heard the sentence, it made Magnus sound like a possessive creep, which Clary really hoped he wasn’t.  
“He didn’t mean it to come across like that,” Jace jumped to defend Magnus, he quickly threw a playful wink to Clary.  
“Hey guys,” the girl with blonde hair that Clary had seen multiple time in the day suddenly came bounding over to the group, “are you lot coming to the open mic and stage tonight?”  
“Open mic and stage?” Clary repeated, confounded by the name.  
“Like open mic, but with dancing as well,” Jace explained, “you do know what an open mic is, right?”  
As Clary sat in silence the blonde girl let out a laugh, “it’s a performance night, freestyle for the students, everybody is welcome to perform. And if it makes any difference,” she paused for some kind of dramatic effect, “Magnus Bane is thinking of performing, and who doesn’t love a good performance from Magnus? He never fails to be astounding.”  
”I bet,” Clary thought of the boy she had seen earlier, with his spectacular hair and beautiful make-up, “sure we’ll go, it’ll be fun.”  
”Great,” the girl excitedly jumped slightly, “I hope you’ll think about performing, it’s a chance to let people see who you are and it’s a great way to start out the year. I’ll see you guys there.”  
The girl ran over to another table and took a seat, she was sat with a group of friends who seemed to be making most of the noise that was filling up the cafeteria.  
“Who was that?” Clary asked Izzy and Jace curiously.  
“Lydia Branwell,” Izzy leaned back in her chair, she sighed and looked over to the other table, “possibly the most beautiful girl at this school.”  
”Iz has a little thing for Ms. Branwell.”  
”Really?”  
”Yep,” Izzy kept her eyes on the blonde girl, “have ever since I saw her at my audition.”  
”I thought she was an older student,” Clary was suddenly confused again, she was the girl that had helped out with Meliorn’s routine and he had said that she was in her second year.  
“She is,” Izzy waved her hand around, “she was there as a volunteer helper, if anybody got super nervous before their audition they could go for her to advice.”  
”She was the one who actually calmed Alec down,” Jace quickly noted, “she’s a really sweet girl.”  
“And her friends?” Clary tilted her head to the side as she watched the group of friends let out a roar of laughter at something one of the girls had said.  
“Ah, her friends, she’s with Harry, Caleb, Jessamy and Dana right now. Her friends kind of expand to be everyone in the school, like I said, she’s sweet,” Jace shrugged, “if you’re wondering what they’re laughing at it’s probably something Dana said, poor girl misunderstands a lot of things.”  
”And they laugh at her for it?”  
”They laugh with her,” Izzy defended the group, she looked around the cafeteria and frowned, “where do you think Alec went?”

***

Alec had found himself in the dance studio by himself, he was going through the routine they had been learning earlier in the day but every now and then he’d stumble over the steps. Dancing was what he was least talented at, he blamed his long legs for that, it just seemed impossible to control them. He only got into the school on a whim, Magnus wanted him to join because Magnus thought he could handle it - or perhaps Magnus just thought he was cute. Alec stopped moving to glance in the mirror, yeah right, why would Magnus find him cute? He backed away from his reflection and went through the choreography again, he could almost land the jumps he did but there was always a stumble. Perhaps the falls in the earlier session weren’t his fault though, perhaps it was Clary distributing her weight wrong - the girl didn’t even know what planking was, she probably didn’t know what a core muscle was either. In frustration, Alec stopped dancing and glared at his reflection, how did everyone get a decent partner other than him? He had Clary freaking Fray, small and annoying. Their height difference didn’t even help with anything, it made it worse. He could ask Meliorn for a different partner, but who would he end up with instead? Someone that would probably make him feel bad for messing up, at least Clary didn’t mind his stumbles. That was probably the only good thing about her.  
“She’s only a stupid girl, don’t let her affect you, she’s stupid and small and irrelevant,” Alec grumbled as he went to try one of the spins from the routine. Instead of easily stopping after the spin, he managed to trip over his own feet and fall to the ground. Why was it impossible for him to get just one move in this choreography? Everything he did never worked out for him. He struck the floor with the palm of his hands and then sat up, confronting his reflection once again.  
“Why can’t you be perfect like Jace?” He begged the reflection for an answer, but there wasn’t one. There probably never would be one.


	4. Wake Up, Live Your Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clary and Izzy end up making friends with two of the second year boys on the way to the Open Mic and Stage event, and they find out what other students got up to in their first year of Brooklyn Arts.

After a long day of learning choreography and theatre theory, Clary was exhausted, but she decided she was definitely keeping her promise of going to the open mic and stage. She had followed Izzy home, asking the girl for fashion advice as they walked.

“Don’t worry Clary,” Izzy sweetly smiled, “I’ll let you borrow something appropriate of mine.”

”You’re sure? I can still wear my ow-”

”I have a dress that will look amazing on you,” Izzy excitedly grabbed Clary’s hand and began running back to the house, Clary was surprised that Izzy was running in the heels she was wearing, but the girl was talented at basically everything so it made sense. When they got back to the house, they rushed past Alaric - who was busy watching some television show about cops - and ran straight up the stairs. Izzy pulled Clary through to her room and let go of her hand once they were in front of her closet.

“Now what colour would suit you best?” Izzy tapped her chin and looked Clary up and down, “oh I have the perfect purple dress for you, you’ll look amazing.”

”Alright,” Clary let out a small giggle, “let me see.”

Izzy threw open the doors of the closet and pulled out a purple dress, Clary liked the look of it straight away. 

After quickly getting changed into the dress, Clary went back into Izzy’s room for approval. Izzy had already changed into a white dress, her dark hair (which had been tied up throughout the day) was now let down into loose waves. Izzy’s make-up had some how managed to stay on through the day, whether she used a special brand or had some magic to help her with it, Clary wouldn’t know. She hadn’t worn make-up herself, since she knew she’d just sweat it off. Izzy didn’t attack her with make up, however, she just said that she looked perfect and then whisked her out of the room. They waved a quick goodbye to Alaric before starting the walk back to the school.

“Why didn’t Jace and Alec come with us?”

”I don’t know, I think Alec asked Jace to go through something with him? Who knows, I try not to think about the boys too much, if I did I’d be stressed beyond belief.”

Clary let out a laugh as Izzy linked their arms together, “so Jace,” she began as her laugh died down, “is he single?”

”Jumping on the Jace train already, I see,” Izzy teased Clary and began twirling her hair around her ringed finger before speaking again, “yes he is, no girl has won his heart yet. You might be the lucky one though, only time will tell.”

In a cliche girly fashion, Clary and Izzy began to giggle about the idea of Clary and Jace possibly being an item. Clary began to wonder if she’d get to dance with Jace, or if the partners they were assigned would become their partner for the entire year - that would be hell for her. She thought of asking Izzy just how people put up with Alec, but that just seemed to be a beyond rude question. Instead, she just listened to Izzy talk about various things Jace had done in the past. When Izzy went quiet, Clary decided to speak again. 

“So, when was Jace adopted?”

”I don’t exactly remember,” Izzy answered almost immediately, “he’s been a part of our family for so long, I honestly forget he was adopted. Jace likes to make it clear that he was adopted, but Alec and I count him as a brother - a real brother. I think he’s insecure about it, like he doesn’t think we think of him as a real brother, but we do.”

”Don’t you talk to him about it?”

Izzy sighed instead of answering, she didn’t need to. Just from that look alone, Clary could tell that Izzy didn’t know how to approach the topic with Jace.  
As they continued their walk, Clary recognised two boys who were walking in the same direction as them. Harry and Caleb, Lydia’s friends. Though they probably wouldn’t recognise her, Clary waved them over. The blond boy was the first to notice her, he tapped his friend on the shoulder and pointed over to Clary and Izzy.  
As the boys approached the girls, Clary politely held out her hand, “hi, I’m Clary,” one of the boys shook her hand as she spoke, “I go to Brooklyn Arts and I recognised you guys.”

”Yeah I saw Lydia talking to you earlier, I’m Caleb,” the boy with darker skin introduced himself, so Caleb was the one who shook Clary’s hand first, “and this is the one and only Harry ‘the whitest boy to white’ Denver.”

”That is the nicest introduction that Caleb’s ever given me,” Harry commented as he shook Clary’s hand, he playfully winked at Caleb, “it was honestly borderline poetic.”

”Thank you, I do try.”

“Some days,” Harry gave a quick shrug of the shoulder and then placed an arm around Caleb’s back as they began walking with the two girls, “so you’re both in your first year, huh?”

”Yeah,” Izzy pressed her lips together after answering, she examined the boys and then let a small smile show on her face, “are you two together?”

”Now that’s one of the mysteries of life,” Harry brought his arm away from Caleb and began gesturing with his hands, “are we together? Well, like you and all other curious students of Brooklyn Arts, we have no clue.”

”You don’t?” Clary furrowed her brows, “but surely you’d know.”

Caleb tried to hide a scoff of laughter, but upon failing to hide it, he began to respond instead, “thing is, when you get stuck into your work here, your personal life becomes something of it’s own. Harry and I may have something going on, we may not, either way - if we do, what’s it to you?”

Izzy threw up her hands defensively, “I was just curious, because you look cute together.”

”That’d be thanks to me,” Harry jokingly pretended to flick hair (longer than his own) behind his shoulder. Caleb only tutted and rolled his eyes, but both boys began to laugh as they looked at each other.

“Honestly, the amount of relationship drama that happens at Brooklyn Arts,” Caleb stared at the ground as they walked, “you kids are best laying low with your relationship, unless you want a dramatic triangle like Jessamy, Harry and Miles had in their first year.”

”It was beautiful,” Harry obviously joked as he dramatically held his head high, “she loved him, he loved her, things got messy, he got with me, I liked him, he liked me. And so on. They’re not together now though, he’s with another girl, Cameron. The best part, Jessamy and I are like best friends now.”

“It was also one of the most cliche things, and talk about bisexual stereotypes-”

“You’re wrong,” Harry clicked his fingers at Caleb, “Miles is Pansexual, it’s different.”

”Still though, he doesn’t help trying to break stereotypes.”

”It’s Miles, he’s a ladies man. And a man’s man. An all around man. Man.”

Clary found herself giggling at the blond, as did Izzy. The two older boys were far more entertaining that Clary had thought they were going to be, and they played off of each other so well. Clary knew it was a loss for both of them if they weren’t together, they fit so perfectly. 

“Are you girls performing tonight?” Caleb asked, he kept his eyes on Izzy and Clary as they walked.

“I don’t know,” Clary admitted, she had thought about it, but getting up in front of everyone seemed to scare her, “I’d have no clue what to do.”

”Do what you did for your audition,” Harry suggested easily, “that’s what I did for my first one.”

”Uh...” Clary wondered how the second years would react to the fact that she didn’t actually audition, before she could answer Izzy suddenly began to speak.

“Oh! I could totally do the dance that I did, it’s one of my favourite routines I’ve ever done.”

”And you?” Harry raised an eyebrow at Clary.

Clary didn’t want to tell the boys that she didn’t audition, they might turn to hate her as Alec did, “I suppose I could-”

She was cut off by a voice calling her name, and thank God for that. They were already close to the school, Jace was outside leaning against the frame. Alec was stood behind the sign, by the light shining on his face it was obvious he was staring at his phone. Jace had been the one to call Clary, and she was just glad he was there on time. 

“Jace,” she skipped over to him, leaving Izzy with the two boys, “boy am I glad you called me over, you have amazing timing.”

”So Meliorn tells me,” Jace joked, he turned to Alec, who was still focused on his phone, “Alec are you ready to shake the school with a performance?”

”I’m not performing,” Alec mumbled, he didn’t even look up from his phone, “I’m only here for moral support.”

”Moral support, eh?” Harry repeated as he, Caleb and Izzy reached the group, “that was Jessamy’s first choice, now she’s one of the best in our class.”

”I hardly think I’m ever going to have that name,” Alec finally looked up from his phone, he glanced between Clary and the second years, “what, you’re making friends already?”

“Of course,” Clary gave him a nod, “being in an environment with friends will help to make me less stressed.”

“That’s cute,” Clary turned to see Harry smiling sweetly to her, “Clary, if I wasn’t gay I would be in love with you already, you’re so precious.”

“Thank you,” she grinned up at the boy, out of the corner of her eye she could see Alec looking fed up of her. She would have said something, but it was easier left alone - Alec could handle it by himself.

Caleb began to rush ahead of Harry, leaving Harry to wave the group to follow him. Clary linked her arm with Jace’s. He didn’t seem to mind the contact at all so she leaned against his shoulder as they walked. Izzy had managed to make Alec break a smile and she quickly jumped onto his back whilst they followed the two boys. 

***

The event was taking place in a lower section of the school, during the day it was a used as a cafe area. In the spirit of a performing arts school, there was a small staged area for students to perform on, it wasn’t a high stage, just a simple higher platform. By the time they had actually arrived, Simon was already on stage performing a song with a girl Clary had seen him sitting with earlier in the day. She watched her old friend proudly as he sang through the final words of the song, she had to admit that she definitely didn’t have the guts to jump onto the stage and perform - at least not without planning the performance first.

“Come on man,” Caleb grabbed Harry by his shoulders, “we have to do that new song we’ve been working on.”

”I thought you wanted to keep that a secret until yo-”

”No way, he have to do it tonight.”

”Is it even ready?” Harry pulled a face but Caleb just laughed and pulled Harry towards the stage. Caleb rushed straight over to Lydia’s side, she was next to the stage waiting for the next performer to volunteer. Clary didn’t realise that Lydia was actually running the event, but there she was with a bright smile and a clipboard. Caleb whispered into Lydia’s ear, she glanced at the two boys and then excitedly ran up to the mic.

“Okay guys, next up we have two of my favourite second year boys, sorry Raj,” Lydia pouted to the side of the stage where another boy was stood with his arms crossed, “and they are going to be performing an original song that they wrote together - I’ve heard bits and it’s pretty good. So here’s Caleb and Harry with,” she paused and looked to the boys quickly, “what’s it called?”

”Uh, it’s called ‘Dear You’,” Harry informed her as he moved towards the piano at the side of the stage.

“And what’s it about?” Lydia raised an eyebrow as she looked for an answer.

“That’s a mystery to you,” Harry responded quickly, Clary recognised his words as being almost like the ones he had said earlier when they were asked if they were together. It could have been a purposeful thing, but Harry might just like to speak in a mysterious way.  
Clary leaned on Jace again as the boys began to perform the song. The song was almost obvious straight away, the lyrics were about wanting more from a friendship and hoping that they felt the same way. As Harry accompanied him on the piano, Caleb kept throwing glances over to the blond every now and then.

“I knew it,” Izzy leaned in to whisper to Clary, “I solved their mystery, they’re totally a thing.”

”You heard them Iz,” Clary patted the other girl’s leg, “it’s a mystery to them too, they’re working it out.”

”You’re right,” Izzy nodded and began to watch the performance again, after a second she looked back to Izzy, “but I solved your mystery.”

”What?”

Izzy gave her a look which was saying ‘I totally know’, then she glanced up to Jace who was willingly letting Clary lean against him. Clary brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, she sat up away from Jace and pulled a face at Izzy. Izzy silently laughed. 

The two girls noticed Magnus approaching their table, Izzy gasped and turned to grab Alec’s attention. She hit his chest and then nodded her head over to Magnus. Alec carelessly shrugged and looked back down to his phone. 

“You can’t be socially inept your entire life,” Clary leaned forward and looked at Alec, the boy barely even gave her a glance, “speak to him.”

”Why?” Alec snapped to glare at Clary, “I have no reason to, if I want to sit in silence, let me sit in silence. I’m only here for Jace.”

Clary focused on the stage again, by now Harry had began to harmonise with Caleb, it sounded beautiful. Caleb and Harry were a perfect match, relationship wise and talent wise. 

“They’re talented, aren’t they?” Clary jumped as she felt a presence by her shoulder, she looked over to see Magnus grinning at her, “you’ll rarely find them separate from each other, they’re stuck like glue.”

“They’re amazing,” Clary commented, she smiled as the boys reached what seemed to be the final chorus of the song.

“Are you going to perform today?” Magnus switched the topic and placed a hand on Clary’s shoulder, “I’d love to see the song you performed at Amatis’s wedding.”

”N-no... I don’t think I can, I don’t have a backing track or sheet music so it would be pretty stupid.”

”Well next time come prepared,” Magnus sighed, he turned to Izzy and Alec. His eyes were set on Alec, “Alexander,” he waited for Alec to look up before continuing, “tell me you’re going to perform, your audition song was amazing, grace us with your talent.”

”No,” Alec quickly shook his head, “I’m not feeling up to it.”

Magnus grasped his hands together and pulled a face, “well, I guess we’ve missed out tonight then.”

The group broke out into applause as Harry and Caleb’s song came to an end. Clary jumped up to cheer loudly, Caleb had waited for Harry to join his side before they both took a short bow. Clary noticed Harry give Caleb a quick glance, as though he wanted to say something to the other boy but he couldn’t. Harry was the first to rush off of the stage, Caleb gladly followed him. They didn’t return to the table with Clary, however, they instead walked over to a tale where the other two girls from their lunch table were sat, Jessamy and Dana. 

“They’re certainly beautiful people,” Magnus gave a small smile, he moved around the group and stopped to look at Alec again, “there’s a lot of beautiful people here.”

Alec glanced up again and gave Magnus an unsure look, “and?”

”And they’re wasting their chance to perform and show this school that they’re talented as well as beautiful,” his comment was blatantly aimed at Alec, Clary was certain that even Alec could see that. Magnus took a breath and examined the whole group, “now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go perform a little something,” he winked at Clary and then moved up to the stage.

“Man, I’m looking forward to this,” Jace shuffled in his seat, he had a big smile on his face as Lydia introduced Magnus.

“Are you performing tonight?” Alec leaned over to talk past Izzy and Clary. Jace shrugged, which led Alec to let out a grunt, “I only came to support you.”

”I’m going to dance,” Izzy waved her phone, “my audition, it got me in here, it’s bound to impress again.”

“Well, I guess I can stay for you,” for a moment, Clary swore that Alec was smiling to Izzy - but that seemed impossible for him, in just one day Clary knew that he was that reigning King of Misery. Izzy let out a quiet giggle and leaned in to hug her brother. 

Alec’s attention quickly turned to the stage, he paid full attention to Magnus. 

Magnus’s performance made Alec remember his audition, not the successful audition - but his first audition to get into the school. He had auditioned for the school in three times in total, the first had been his worst - he chose the wrong song to sing, hadn’t prepared a dance piece, and stumbled over every word he spoke to the teachers. He remembered someone similar to Magnus, but he couldn’t remember the name of the boy, but the boy had been eagerly helping Alec out. They were getting along perfectly fine, Alec heard the boy’s song and it sounded absolutely perfect. Alec realised that the song was the same song he had heard the other boy sing, and like the boy - Magnus sang it beyond perfectly. The song was enthralling, but Alec caught himself in the trance and suddenly pulled himself out of it. He didn’t need to feel emotions for anybody, especially when he was already having enough trouble with the challenges of the school. He turned, wanting to see if Jace, Clary or Izzy had noticed him staring at Magnus, luckily it seemed that they hadn’t. He watched Magnus again, trying not to seem as mesmerized as before.

After Magnus’s excellent delivery of a performance, he took a bow, winked to nobody in particular and jumped off of the stage. 

“He was so good,” Jace was grinning as he kept his eyes on Magnus.

Magnus was heading over to their table again, a successful smile covering his face, “ah, kids, tell me my performance changed your mind in performing,” he kept his eyes on Alec.

Alec shook his head and nervously tried to make an excuse, “n-no... I don’t-”

He was cut off by Clary, “I’ll do it, I could totally find the backing track to my song.”

After a brief pause, Magnus turned back to Alec, “now why can’t you be more like Clary?”

Alec stared at Magnus in disbelief, how could he just turn and say something like that. He might not have meant it in a harsh way but it definitely felt like it hurt. 

He stood up from his seat and moved away from the group without another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why yes every title is going to be taken from a Britannia High Song.  
> And yes, there is much angst in store for Alec, in fact there'll be some angst all over the place for our characters.  
> *Youtube Voice* DON'T FORGET TO LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE


	5. Please Don't Shoot Me Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec's patience is tested when he answers a call from his mother.

When Alec had returned home, Alaric informed him that their mother had called the house’s landline - so Alec quickly made sure to call her back. He picked up the phone, dialled the number and held the phone to his ear. He dreaded to hear what his mother would say to him and with every ring there was more of an urge to put the phone down. But it was too late after the fourth ring. 

“Hello?”

”Hey mom.”

“Oh Alec,” she sounded almost disappointed, “is Jace there?”

”No.”

”Izzy?”

”No, just me.”

“Well, I guess I can talk to you then.”

”Wow, I feel so loved,” Alec mumbled, “was there anything in particular?”

”How are you getting on? You know it’s not too late to quit.”

”What?” 

Five seconds into the phone call and Maryse was suggesting Alec made a wrong decision, sounded about right. Alec wanted to hang up straight away but he couldn’t, it was his mother after all.

“It’s not too late to make something of your life, Alec.”

”Mom, I spent three years trying to audition for this place and I’ve finally got it - you expect me to drop it like that?”

”Three years, exactly, unlike Izzy who got in on her first try. If you struggled to get into that school, you’ll struggle to get anywhere else in life. Why can’t you be like Jace, join a business course.”

Of course, Jace had completely lied to their parents, telling them he’d be getting somewhere in the business world. Alec and Izzy had agreed to go along with the lie, but in that moment Alec wanted to let his mother down. He didn’t though, he couldn’t do that to Jace. Their parents loved Jace and Izzy for being successful on their first try, he didn’t want either of them to end up like him. 

“Mom, I’m meant to perform.”

”No you’re not,” Maryse hissed back, “Alec please, I want the best for you.”

”The best for me is performing, ever since I was a kid I loved to perform.”

Maryse let out a huff, “I wish you were more like your siblings, even Max is more successful than you’ve been. It’s bad enough that you’re gay, you have to make it worse by-”

Alec quickly ended the call, he couldn’t take it anymore. He looked over to Alaric, who was watching Alec throughout the whole phone call. Alec stared back, finally, Alaric spoke.

“Would you like to talk about it?”

”No, it’s fine,” Alec looked over to the counter, “what are you making?”

”Just a couple of cakes as a treat for you guys, you want to help?”

”Yes please,” Alec moved over to the counter and quickly began focusing on making the cakes - he fought back the words his mother had said. He could take it though, he always did.


	6. Skies Are Slowly Changing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clary, Izzy, and Jace return home after a night of fun. Along the way they discover more about their new friends and Clary finds out a bit more about the Lightwood siblings.

After a long night of quick performances, Izzy, Jace and Clary found themselves on their way home. They were joined, once again, by Harry and Caleb - this time Lydia managed to tag along as well. 

“I’m so glad you performed,” Lydia placed her arms over both Clary’s and Izzy’s shoulders, “and you girls were amazing.”

“Thank you,” Clary laughed, she gave Lydia a bright smile, “you were a great master of ceremonies.”

”Oh, you know what an MC is but you don’t know what the plank is,” Harry commented, “yeah, Iz told us about the pirate thing when you ran off to greet Jace earlier,” he almost struggled to speak as he laughed, “to be fair to you, Meliorn does look like he could double as a pirate.”

“A beautiful pirate,” Izzy mumbled, “who probably took beauty tips from Magnus.”

”False,” Caleb held up his hand, “it was the other way around, Meliorn gave Magnus tips.”

”How do you know that?” Clary cocked her head to the side, she watched as Lydia and Caleb both turned to Harry, the blond boy hesitated as though he had been caught.

“Well thanks guys, now I’ve got to spill, huh?”

”Oh come on Harry, it’s old news,” Lydia placed her hand on Harry’s back.

“Magnus and I spent a couple of nights together, before and also after the messy Miles triangle thing happened. We spent some nights talking after we... You know.”

Jace glanced over to the boy and let his eyes widen as he caught up with what he was talking about, “oh wow, really?”

”Yeah.”

Jace watched the other blond and pulled an approving face, “nice one. Was he good?”

”So good,” Harry was almost pouting, “I kind of miss it, but at the same time,” he glanced over to Caleb, “things here are better, slow is probably better for me.”

“Speaking of,” Caleb tapped Harry’s shoulder, “tomorrow night, you, me and one terrible movie - you in?”

”Always,” Harry sharply nodded.

“Quick question,” Jace pulled a confused face as he looked at the other blond boy, “where are you from?”

The trio of second years began to laugh, eventually Caleb spoke, “it’s not obvious that he’s British?”

”Well yeah, but where in Britain?”

Harry responded quickly, “Winchester. I’ve kind of just, never managed to drop the accent, feel free to make fun of me - Miles always does.”

”He liked it when you were a thing,” Caleb teased Harry easily, he winked and then turned back to begin a conversation with Lydia.

Harry mimicked Caleb but then began to laugh, he quickly informed Clary and the group that he, Lydia, and Caleb would be turning off down this road to get to Lydia’s house. He gave Clary and Izzy a hug and simply nodded to Jace. Caleb and Lydia both made their goodbyes as well, Clary was certain she saw Lydia wink to Izzy but she might have just been making things up in her mind.

***

Jace, Clary and Izzy returned home to the smell of freshly baked cakes, and Clary instantly began to get excited by the scent. Jace stopped, however, when he noticed Alec asleep on the sofa. He was covered in flour and wearing the same clothes he had been wearing before. He smiled at the sight and let Izzy and Clary run over to the kitchen where Alaric held out the cakes for them. Jace sat down next to his brother and almost went to wake him up, but he paused. He couldn’t disturb Alec when he was like this, it was the most peaceful he had ever seen him.

He gently tugged on the blanket that was thrown over the back of the sofa and then placed it over Alec, he knew it would get cold at night and he didn’t want Alec to get ill. 

The last time Jace had seen Alec that peaceful was a few years ago when Alec was only fifteen and Jace was only fourteen, it hadn’t started out so peaceful. Alec had woken up from a nightmare and rushed into Jace’s room. He had woken up Jace as he climbed into the bed - it was something both the boys were comfortable with, whenever they’d get scared in the night, they’d go to each other. Alec explained his nightmare to Jace, something about demons and death, he was terrified and upset. So Jace did what he could do to comfort the boy, he gave him a hug. As he held him, Alec slowly fell asleep and even though he had been so scared to the point of tears barely five minutes ago, he looked peaceful in his sleep. 

Alec suddenly began to stir from his peaceful slumber and Jace moved closer to his brother, when Alec pulled a face and let out a weak grunt Jace quickly moved to crouch down beside Alec’s head. He gently began to comfort Alec by stroking his hair as he had done several times before. After a moment, Alec calmed down again - but Jace continued to comfort him. 

Clary wandered back into the living room, she held a cake out to Jace and looked down to Alec as Jace took the food,

“Is he okay?”

”I hope so.”

“He’ll be okay,” Alaric spoke as he leaned over the counter to look at the students. Jace hadn’t questioned Alaric’s comment to much, he turned back to Alec and chuckled quietly as the older boy tugged the blanket up.

“You guys are really close, aren’t you?” Clary sat down by Jace.

“We’re brothers, of course we’re close,” Jace watched Alec as he slept, “he got me into performing.”

“That’s cute,” Clary began to grin, “your parents must love performing too, huh?”

”That would be a dream come true,” Izzy snorted out a laugh from the kitchen, “mom and dad are only happy for me to be in performing, they weren’t so happy that Alec got in this year considering he had promised that if he didn’t get in, he’d give up performing. And Jace? Well why don’t you tell her yourself,” she gave Jace a look and the boy slowly turned to Clary.

“Uh, well, they don’t actually know I go to Brooklyn Arts. They think I go to a business school, and that Alec, Izzy and I managed to find a place together. They don’t know we live in Brooklyn Arts accommodation.”

“Oh, they don’t?”

”They have no clue, and they’d hate me if they did know.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Clary pulled a face, she looked down at Alec, “they don’t like Alec performing?”

”They hate it,” Izzy commented as she picked at her cake, “but Alec had never let it get him down, he loves performing.”

Clary nodded and smiled at the family members, she wished that they were accepted more by their parents, but that seemed impossible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE WE ARE MONTHS AFTER I ORIGINALLY POSTED THIS AND I JUST REALISE THAT I HAD WRITTEN "London, Winchester to be precise." WELL WINCHESTER ISNT IN LONDON. FUCK.


	7. There's No Promise Land

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec struggles throughout his dance class, and ends up making a decision that affects more than just him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this part months ago, I thought I'd post it because I rediscovered it...

The next day, Alec pushed the thought of his mother to the back of his mind, he didn’t need to think about how disappointed his parents were in him. He walked behind the group as they made their way to school that day, he preferred being lost in his own thoughts, the happy ones. He thought of how happy they had all been when they were all accepted into the school, how they had all been so excited to continue their lives together. 

As Alec fell deep into his own thoughts, Clary was excited to notice the two boys once again walking to school together, this time they were joined by a girl and a boy. Clary figured that they must have been Miles and Cameron, considering she was holding onto the boy like she’d fail to exist if she let go. They were across the road from Clary so she eagerly waved over to them. 

Caleb smiled back and gave them a quick wave, he nudged Harry. The blond boy turned dramatically and for some reason looked shocked to see the group again. He looked as though he wanted to run across the road to talk to them but he was pulled back by the girl. She was a beautiful girl, Clary could admit that. She had short dark hair and pale skin, like a modern day Snow White. Then again, she was just like every other pretty girl in the movies, cute hair, a nice boy by her side and pale white skin. As pretty as she was, Clary rolled her eyes. The couple glanced over to the group of first years curiously, Clary knew that Harry and Caleb were probably explaining who they were to the pair. 

”So Meliorn said he’s going to work us twice as hard today,” Jace grumbled to the group, “I hope you all had a good night’s sleep like Alec did.”

Alec glanced up as he heard his name, “hmm?”

Jace flashed a smile at Alec and then began to chuckle, “I said I hoped the girl’s got a good sleep like you did.”

”Oh right,” Alec could remember waking up on the sofa, he had moved to his own bed in the middle of the night though.

“You looked really peaceful,” Clary turned to Alec, “for someone so grumpy, it was nice to see you like that.”

Alec rolled his eyes and ignored Clary’s comment, “and uh… Jace, why do they need to have a good sleep?”

”Meliorn’s working us harder today,” Izzy informed her brother, “so no slacking,” she lightly tapped him on the shoulder. Alec wish he felt sick, he wish he could just stay at home and lie in bed all day. Working twice as hard in Meliorn’s class would kill him, Meliorn would probably never stop telling him that he was doing something wrong - because Alec was pretty sure he did everything wrong.

“Harder?”

”Well that will be fun,” the group spun around to see the girl from across the road behind them, she was soon joined by the three boys, “Meliorn working you hard, that means blood, sweat and tears. Even our own little Jessamy couldn’t hack it.”

”But she’s still here,” Clary smiled over to Alec, hoping that it might make him feel a bit better.

“Only just,” Cameron’s eyes went wide as she spoke about the girl, “she was almost dropped out, but a few lessons later she was getting better at it. So they kept her.”

“She was a mess after the first intense session,” the boy that must have been Miles commented, “I sat with her for hours just talking about what the future could be like, that not everyone starts off so easy.”

”Ah yes, that’s when the romance story started,” Harry pulled a face that made Clary give a quick scrunched face smile, “look, it’s intense to begin with, but you soon get into the rhythm of things.”

“Or you could end up like Arthur, smart witty Arthur who failed to impress Meliorn with his constant failing, he was gone straight away. He didn’t even know what a pirouette was.”

”Constant failing?” Alec was now terrified by the thought of intense sessions.

“Tripping over, using the wrong arm, failing to catch his partner - stuff like that,” Miles waved a hand, “not much to worry about, I’m sure you’re all capable of that.”

* * * * *

Straight away, Meliorn’s lesson was intense, “now you’re all here I want extra layers of clothing to the side, water bottles also to the side and dance appropriate footwear. Alec, that clothing isn’t going to be easy to dance in.”

”I- I know, I slept in and I-”

”Not good enough,” Meliorn frowned at him and then moved to the front of the room, “in the future, Izzy, make sure your brother is awake on time so that he can get appropriately dressed like you.”

Izzy nodded and gave a quick smile to Alec, he just looked down at the floor as Meliorn began the warm up. Alec could do the stretches easily, because they weren’t that complicated. He glanced over to Jace and Clary who were giving each other supportive smiles, it was sickening, but he also wished he had someone like that. 

The warm up was over soon enough, Alec felt butterflies as he thought about the intense session, he could end up like that Arthur kid, out before his life even began. 

“We’ll start by running through what we already know, so,” he held up his iPod, “let’s go,” he pressed play once the students were all in position.

The beginning of the routine was simple for Alec, but after a few turns he found himself stumbling into other students.

“Alec! Focus!” Meliorn yelled from the front of the studio. Alec managed to regain the rhythm but it wasn’t too long until he fell over and this time it wasn’t just a stumble. He pushed himself back up and glanced around the room trying to figure out where they were in the dance, “Alec, come on! What are you doing?”

Alec didn’t respond, he managed to figure out where everyone was in the dance once again. He knew he wasn’t doing the routine right at all, and he was going to be slaughtered for that. The rest of the dance lesson was just as torturous as the beginning. Meliorn stopped yelling at Alec, instead he just ordered Alec to stay after the lesson. He was probably dreading that more than the intense dance sessions. 

Once the class was over, the students filed out - it was time for their lunch and the hard work of the dance lessons just made them more in need of food. Alec watched the last person leave the room. He was then confronted by Meliorn, who had his arms crossed.

“I don’t know what you think you’re playing at Alec.”

”I’m not playing at anything,” Alec replied in a low tone.

“Every piece of choreography you get, you mess up. How come you can’t be more like your siblings, or even Clary - who had no experience in dancing before now.”

”I-”

”Tell me exactly how you and your sister are related, because the talent certainly isn’t family wide.”

”I struggled,” Alec glared at the man, “that doesn’t mean you have to put me down constantly in front of everyone!”

”How else will you learn?”

Alec rolled his eyes, “well I’m not learning by being told that I’m doing it wrong.”

“Nobody else has problems when I tell them they’re doing something wrong, Alec, so why do you think you can get away with acting so miserable when I correct you?”

”You don’t correct me! You just tell me that I’m messing it all up!”

Meliorn shook his head, “you need to improve, Alec. When Magnus insisted that you join us, he said you’d probably learn the choreography easily. But you’re clumsy and stumble over every step. Now I’ll give you a chance, but it won’t be much of one.”

“What?”

”Unless you have this routine mastered by Friday, I have no choice but to let you go.”

”You…”

”That’s the deal I have, Alec, so learn the routine, get it perfect. If you fail, you’ll have to leave.”

Meliorn pointed Alec to the door, after a brief pause, Alec rushed out of the room. He ran down the corridor and stopped behind the corner. He was this year’s Arthur, there was no way he wouldn’t be kicked out. He let out a shaky breath, it was tempting to break down into tears but he couldn’t do that - not in the middle of the hallway.

He quickly moved through to the lunch hall where he saw Clary, Jace and Izzy sat at a table with Simon Lewis and Raphael Santiago. He moved past the few students that stood in his way and fell down into a spare seat at the table.

“There’s the man of the hour,” Jace was grinning at Alec, “what did Meliorn want?”

”Just uh… Told me to wear appropriate clothes last time,” Alec lied, “simple really.”

“I told you to get changed before we left!” Izzy gently whacked Alec’s hand, “or at least grab something suitable.

Alec gave a careless shrug, “has Luke gone on lunch yet?”

”No, he’s still in his office,” Raphael answered quickly.

“Great, I have to go talk to him about something quickly, I uh… I’ll see you guys later,” Alec stood up and moved away from the table.

Alec ran down the corridor and found his way to Luke’s office, he slowed down as he saw the door open ajar. He could see Meliorn inside the office and as he got closer it was clear what they were talking about.

”He’s not prepared for what we have in store, just like he wasn’t prepared in the last two auditions. We made a mistake trusting Magnus’s opinion, you and I both know that Magnus only wanted him here because he found him attractive. Why did we trust a teenager to help us choose when that teenager’s hormones are going to get in the way of who gets in. This is a business of pretty faces, but talented pretty faces.”

”Meliorn, I understand where you’re coming from but you know how hard Magnus fought to get Alec here, if we get rid of Alec…”

”I know, and it’s not something I’d want to do, but Alec is letting the entire class down,” Meliorn let out a sigh, “it’s our only choice.”

”If Alec fails to impress you on Friday…”

”I know,” Alec managed to see Meliorn give a nod through the gap in the door, “I know what we’ll be risking but I’d rather risk that than have someone let the whole class down.”

Alec couldn’t believe it, it was bad enough what Meliorn had said to his face - but hearing that was a thousand times as worse. He was glued to the spot, staring at the ground. He only looked up when he heard the office door open. Meliorn stepped out of the office and stared at Alec.

“Alec… How long have you been here?”

”Long enough,” Alec mumbled, he pushed past the dance teacher and knocked on the office door, when Luke called for him to come in, he spared one more look at Meliorn and entered the office.

As he shut the door, he and Luke shared a look. Luke knew he had heard the conversation with Meliorn, and he didn’t try to hide it from the boy.

“Alec, I’d ask what brings you here, but I think we both know.”

“He’s right you know,” Alec mumbled, it was barely audible to Luke but he just managed to understand, “Meliorn. He’s right.”

”Is he?”

”I don’t belong here, my third audition here and I only got in because I had a pretty face. I’m not talented, not like Izzy, or Jace… Or even Clary. Two weeks in and I haven’t got one of the dance moves right, I mess up everything. I couldn’t even bring myself to perform at the open mic last night. I just… Really don’t deserve to be here.”

“You know we turned down some talented people to let you in here.”

”They deserve to be here, not me.”

”But they’re not,” Luke shrugged, “because they didn’t have what it takes, Magnus believed that you do.”

“Magnus did! Nobody else, just Magnus. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him, but I don’t deserve to be here!”

“Then what do you propose I do about that?”

”I propose that you let me go. Meliorn wants me to have a second chance, but I don’t deserve it. So, I’m leaving.”

”Are you sure?”

”Yes,” Alec fought back sudden tears as he thought about the decision he was making, “yes, whilst it’s not too late for me to take another path.”

”Okay then, I’ll allow you to make that decision. However, if you want to return-”

”I won’t.”

”If you want to return,” Luke continued, not even blinking when Alec had spoken, “then I’ll let you audition again. As for housing, if you are no longer a student here then you have forfeited your rights to stay in our housing, you’ll have to find somewhere new, I’d love to let you stay but due to funding we can’t have a non-student stay there. You’ll have two weeks to figure it all out.”

“Okay, I understand. Thank you sir.”

”I’ll let you go now, but do me a favour,” he paused and waited for Alec to nod, “let Magnus Bane know, he’s wanted to keep up to date with your place here.”

“Okay,” Alec gave Luke a quick smile, “and… Uh… Thank you.”

He rushed back out of the room with a heavy heart, he had just made a big decision that could really affect his future. At least his mother would be happy. As Alec began walking down the hallway, he noticed Magnus - just in time. 

”Magnus,” he called out, the boy glanced over and gave Alec a smile, “can I talk to you?”

”Yes, of course,” Magnus left his friend, giving her a look as he walked towards the taller boy, “what’s up pretty boy?”

”Luke… Luke told me to tell you that, I’m leaving Brooklyn Arts.”

Magnus stared up at Alec, “n-no… Alec.”

“I’m sorry, I know you had… faith in me. But having a pretty face doesn’t mean I belong here.”

“No Alec, I-”

”You won’t change my mind,” Alec shrugged, “Meliorn doesn’t want me here, I just need to leave.”

Magnus seemed to be close to tears and Alec had no idea why, “okay then. Well, I guess all my fighting really wasn’t worth it in the end,” he looked into Alec’s eyes, “you have no idea how much I put at stake for you to be here,” after one final look, Magnus rushed back over to his friend. Alec wondered why Magnus was so upset about this, it was stupid that he was.


End file.
